Unemployed Bradford residents will be working along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal this spring as part of the government's Future Jobs Fund (FJF) scheme.

A five strong team, led by British Waterways in partnership with the Bradford Motor Education Project, will be responsible for carrying out a range of maintenance tasks including painting, litter clearance, minor towpath resurfacing, vegetation management and dry stone walling. The skills and experience picked up over a six month contract can then be transferred on to their future careers.

The FJF aims to create around 150,000 jobs nationally in unemployment hotspots, with 100,000 of these aimed at 18-24 year olds. A further 10,000 are also designated as 'Green Jobs', delivering benefits to the wider community. A partnership, led by Bradford Council and supported by Aspire-i and Incommunities, aims to work with a range of employers to support 1,250 jobs, thus contributing to the Employment and Skills Board Objective of creating 1,000 jobs in the District.

To qualify for the scheme each individual must have been unemployed for at least 26 weeks, or be over 25 years old and have been claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 39 - 78 weeks. Jane Thomson, regeneration manager for British Waterways North said: "Not only will the tasks we'll be asking the teams to do be a great additional benefit to the range of work BW already undertakes, it's also satisfying to know that the waterway infrastructure will aid individuals' professional development.

"BW's specialised engineering and maintenance teams manage projects each year on limited resources, so all the assistance we get to maintain this historic network of canals is becoming increasingly vital in protecting their long term stability."